Vehicles are used to transport myriad articles, animals, groceries, the list is endless. Individuals have long taken pride in their vehicles and the aesthetic qualities thereof, particularly as it concerns the interior. As such, covers have been provided as protection for vehicle seating, whether to prevent damage from sharp edged articles, pet concerns (whether from hair, saliva, excrement, etc.), spills from beverages and other liquids, again, the list goes on.
There has thus long been a market to provide different types of seat covers to meet these needs and wants of vehicle-driving and owning consumers. Of one particularly popular type of cover is a rear seat or bench type that allows for both seat and back cushion coverage, ostensibly to protect the fabric, leather, vinyl, or other type of seat upholstery from damage, stains, etc. Additionally, seat and/or bench covers (primarily for rear seats and/or benches of vehicles, such as SUVs, minivans, trucks, and the like) have also been provided with hammock-like front panels that can attach to a forward seat or seat array. Such hammock-like structures basically protect the vehicle floor and front seat from damage, stains, pet hair, etc., as well as acting as a barrier to, if needed, pet movement from the rear to the front of the vehicle. Complete coverage of such a seat and/or bench structure is possible with such a complete flat seat cover article. If all seats and/or benches remained as a static flat configuration, such would be acceptable in total within the industry.
However, the typical rear seat and/or bench structure now includes a mid-situated stowable armrest/drink holder component that has not been taken fully into consideration for protection purposes. Certainly, there exist some seat covers that include a manipulatable middle panel to allow for access and unstowing of the armrest, etc., type of component noted above. However, such configurations generally limit protection to the underlying seat and not the arm and certainly not the open seat portion (recess, for instance) from which the armrest is unstowed when in use. Thus, there is nothing provided within this industry that accords desirable coverage of the entirety of the seat back, armrest stowage recess, and armrest in total. The only other possible design in the market include a bottom provided fitted fabric to surround the bottom and outer edges of such an armrest in unstowed status. This configuration, unfortunately, leaves the top of such an armrest and the remaining components of the seat back and recess completely open and unprotected. Thus, in terms of prior attempts to possibly allow for armrest destowing (and thus utilization in tandem with such a seat cover) either create situations where damage staining, etc., may easily be imparted to unprotected seat back portions and/or the armrest (and/or recess) itself, or wherein a limited amount of protection is provided to the armrest when unstowed and partially covered.
There thus remains a need to provide the industry with a complete coverage capability, particularly with easy-to-access and utilize component panels and/or parts for protection of rear seat and/or bench articles and/or arrays. To date, as noted above, there has not been any disclosure provided the industry to meet such a desirable end result.